Add remaining crust ingredients and pulse until everything is well mixed and the dough begins to form into a ball.

Press ⅔ of the crust into an 8X8-inch cake pan. Set remaining dough aside.

To make the date filling Add all ingredients but water to a large bowl, mix until fully incorporated.

Transfer half of the date mix to your food processor. Add water and blend until smooth.

Transfer back to the bowl with chopped fruits and mix thoroughly.

Drop date mixture onto prepared crust, smoothing out with the back of a spoon. Then, crumble remaining crust on top.

Cover and transfer to the freezer to chill overnight. This will help the bars form nicely and avoiding breaking when you’re cutting.

When ready to serve, cut into 16 bars.

Keeps for 10 days in the fridge or 4 months in the freezer.

Notes Soaked and dried nuts – you can make this recipe with regular raw nuts. Medjool dates – I made this recipe with medjool dates because they are softer and more pliable than honey dates. If you want to use honey dates for this recipe, you may have to soak them before hand.

Here’s a picture to give you an example of the size you should be going for for the ground nuts. It doesn’t have to be perfect, this recipe is very forgiving!

Once the crust is complete, firmly press it into your prepared pan. There’s quite a bit of natural oils so you shouldn’t have to worry about the dessert sticking to the pan. If you’re concerned with this, feel free to drape parchment paper over the sides of the pan.

Once the crust is in, add the date mixture.

Crumble the remaining crust over top and chill these babies for at least 12 hours!